


For You

by orphan_account



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 03:32:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9580940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Tendou has been acting odd the last few nights and Shirabu is determined to figure out what's going on once and for all.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [miracleboysatori](https://archiveofourown.org/users/miracleboysatori/gifts).



> I hope my take on Shirabu isn't too weird, but here we go!! I actually wrote this up specifically for tendouaf over on Twitter. I noticed she's been having a kind of bad time and I wanted!! To try and help with it, even if we may not know each other super personally. I hope you like this fic, Kat, and I hope things start looking up for you! You're a lovely person and you've made it this far, so you're doing a great job, I promise. If things aren't working out now, then it's not the end, as all things work out in the end. c:

“Tendou-san?” The voice caused for a trembling form to turn stark still, then shifting to a familiar slouch. “What are you doing in here, Tendou-san?” Before the owner of the voice could step any further into the locker room, they were met with a towel over their head as Tendou let out laugh that... didn't sound right. It didn't sound like the easy laughs the team was used to hearing.

“Oh Kenjirou, you're a real prankster! Sneaking up on me while I was putting my stuff away, you're starting to get the hang of that, aren't ya?” As the red head laughed some more, he ruffled the blond's hair under the towel, earning him an aggravated growl before he was quickly walking back to his dorm. After removing the towel, Shirabu looked off in the direction Tendou had left. What on earth was up with him? This was the fifth time he'd caught the red head trembling alone in the locker room long after they'd all cleaned up. Was something wrong? Was it something Shirabu should really get into?

“I have a feeling I'm going to regret this...” There's a heavy sigh before the blond ran his hand through his hair to fix his bangs. “...but I don't like seeing him like that, either.” If it wasn't something Ushijima was aware of, then Shirabu knew he'd make an effort to find some way of confronting the red head. So, his first stop was Ushijima's dorm, making his way over there after turning the light off in the locker room as he was leaving.

A soft set of knuckles gave firm knocks against the door's surface, the noise clearly enough to garner the occupant's attention as they opened the door and looked at their visitor with some surprise. “Ah, Shirabu. Did you need something?” The blond nodded, then making sure Tendou wasn't flopped in Oohira's bed opposite of Ushijima's. “Come in, then.” As the brunette nodded, he moved to welcome Shirabu into his dorm. “How can I help you, then?”

“I wanted to ask you something. About... about Tendou-san.” At this, Ushijima was further surprised, as most didn't ask him about Tendou, especially so suddenly like this. Shirabu tried to comb his brain for the best way of explaining this, before he decided the best solution was being straight forward, as Ushijima seemed to respond best to this. “I have found Tendou-san trembling alone in the locker room long after practice the last few nights. Has he been alright? Have you noticed anything different in you two's daily routines?” At this, it seemed like Shirabu was on a roll with surprising his captain.

“No, actually... He has come over to read the weekly Jump with me as he usually does, and he hasn't missed a single dinner with me or the other third years, either... Nothing seems out of the ordinary besides what you just mentioned. He hasn't told me anything though, if that is what you're asking. Should I confront him about this?” The brunette felt it might be a good idea to approach his friend, but when Shirabu shook his head, he was once more taken by surprise.

“No, I... I want to approach him myself. I'm the only one who's been catching him in these states, and I want to make sure he doesn't feel like the entire team is aware of what's been going on. It might be something sensitive.” At this, Ushijima nodded, deciding to take Shirabu's word for it. After all, the setter _was_ rather intelligent, and usually when his temper wasn't at an all time high, he had some good strategies about handling people. It was odd, considering he didn't seem all that sociable with how often he cooped himself up in his room reading novels.

So, Shirabu left Ushijima's room that night with a plan in mind. He was going to find out once and for all just what was making Tendou tremble like that and force his laughter as if it wasn't noticeable. Even Ushijima would have recognized something was wrong if he'd seen Tendou in that state. Surely he would, he at least hoped. After all, the two spent so much time together, it almost seemed like they were... Shaking his head as his cheeks colored a shade of red, he returned to his dorm, nodding to Kawanishi who was studying with his earbuds in. Settling on his own bed after putting his things away, he let out a huff of breath that earned the other second year's attention.

“Do you think that Ushijima-san and Tendou-san are dating?” At this, Kawanishi just sort of stared at him, taken slightly aback with the bluntness of it. Though, with who was speaking, the middle blocker wondered if he should have been so surprised. After a few moments of thought, he decided to speak.

“Nah.” After that, the blond shrugged and put his earbuds back in, getting a piece of gum to chew quietly as he studied some flash cards. With how confident Kawanishi seemed in his answer, Shirabu mulled it over before he supposed he agreed. There was a certain level of intimacy friends could share without dating, he figured, knowing he shared a similar intimacy with Kawanishi for only knowing him a year or so. Finally deciding he was done thinking about the topic, he instead went with thinking over how to approach Tendou the next evening practice they had. Hopefully Tendou wasn't wary of him walking in on him at this point, but given how startled the red head was every night, he wondered if Tendou just had a permanent doubt someone like Shirabu would check up on him. In one hand he hoped that was the case, but in another, he felt something like hurt that Tendou would presume he didn't care about him.

Sure, Shirabu was abrasive, everyone was _well_ aware of that fact, and true he didn't exactly phrase things in a nice way. He didn't sugar coat things, he didn't like to, and he especially didn't like playing nice when he felt they didn't deserve it. He would play fair, but to an extent. His temper was sharp and quick to rise, but surely he had some good points to him too, right? Everyone did, didn't they? Even Oikawa did, and he could have sworn Oikawa's attitude was worse than his own. “Taichi.” The other second year hummed, signaling he had paused his music. “What do you think the pros of being friends with me would be?” At this, Shirabu had once more startled his friend, and the other blond took his earbuds out and set them aside, getting off his bed after setting his study materials aside.

Shirabu blinked as soon he had his best friend looming over him on all fours, staring him down like some predator. The setter blinked, hardly phased, and Kawanishi visibly seemed to come to a conclusion. “You're well read, you are a healthy influence when you're not angry, you're a problem solver, and you're realistic, able to ground yourself without much effort.” After that, he got up, ruffling Shirabu's hair before he returned to his bed. Shirabu sneered a bit after the ruffle, but he straightened his hair back out without much effort, humming as he laid there on his bed in thought. “Go to sleep before you give yourself a migraine thinking things through. If you're planning something, just wing it. I'm sure you'd do fine doing that instead.” At this, Shirabu propped himself up on his elbows to look at Kawanishi, only to find he had resumed his music and was studying again, blowing a bubble to pop after a moment.

“Fine...” Shirabu rolled his eyes before heaving a sigh, pulling the covers over himself before they both shut their lights off. Kawanishi had a smaller lamp to work by thankfully, allowing Shirabu to fall fast asleep.

Come the next day, Shirabu was all wound up and ready to get through to the evening practice, not once stepping out of his routine to ensure the rest of the day would go smoothly while he thought through the possible outcomes of confronting Tendou. Soon, it was time for evening practice and it passed just as swiftly. Shirabu, Kawanishi, and Goshiki all took care of clean up and soon the entire gym was silent save for Shirabu's shoes squeaking the slightest bit as he crossed the gym to put up one of the large dust mops. However, something that had not been in his plans was to find the trembling Tendou in the storage room. Had he planned that?

“Tendou-san.” The blond's voice caused the red head to jump as it had the last few nights, and Tendou wasn't able to hide this time. His eyes were puffy and his cheeks were streaked with hot tears, something Shirabu had assumed had been the cause the last few nights, but he felt a tug at his heart when actually seeing Tendou like this. He didn't like it in the slightest. Kneeling down so that he could reach out to the red head, the dust mop was left propped in the door way so that he could properly give Tendou his attention. “Tendou-san... why are you crying? Why are you hiding like this?” The red head's body seemed to almost tremble more as the blond's hand reached out, before he fell still when it caressed his cheek.

“Why do you... Wh-Why do you care, Kenjirou-kun?” The way he sounded in that moment was heartbreaking, it was enough to almost ignite some anger in the blond. Anger that someone or something could cause the red head to feel so much pain that he thought he should hide away and suffer alone. “I'm... I'll be okay, s-seriously.” It was then that Shirabu's other hand reached for one of Tendou's hands, expression seeming absolutely furious.

“No. No you won't. You've been doing this the last few nights, and you haven't even told Ushijima-san about it. He's your _best_ friend, Tendou-san. Why would you hide something like this from him? He cares about you, he was shocked when I said you've been trembling in the locker room alone the last few nights.” His grip on Tendou's hand was tight, but nothing painful, just firm enough to tell him that he was here, that he wasn't leaving, even if he was the one Tendou least expected to confront him about something like this. “It's not alright to bottle up your emotions until you self destruct. Please.” His grip tightened as he looked Tendou in the eye. “Tell me what's making you hurt like this.” It was enough to cause Tendou to seemingly deflate, looking limp physically as he threatened to fall on top of Shirabu. Instead of letting the red head fall, Shirabu was quick to adjust himself in order to allow Tendou to lay down against him.

Head now settled in the blond's lap with one hand laced in the setter's he finally spoke up. “...my grandma... she... sh-she passed away, last week...” His breath was shaky, his body trembling as he spoke about it. “The funeral is planned for the summer, the... th-the same time I would go to visit her... I visited her every summer... I-I remember the way the cicadas chirped and running home when it got dark because I thought a _yokai_ would snatch me up... I-I remember always bringing her leaves I'd find during school that I thought looked cool... I just... I can't believe she's g-gone... I was expecting it, counting down the time, but... It was too sudden...” Breathing more shakily now, he jerked up from where he'd been laying, and Shirabu never let go of his hand, tightening his grip to remind Tendou he was there for him. “I just want her back y-y'know? Just... I wanted to see her one more time...” His body was trembling with sobs now and Shirabu dragged him into a tight, forceful hug.

“Hey. Calm down.” His voice was firm, almost icy despite the warm intention. “You know, it's not wrong to grieve. It's not wrong to be selfish and want her back, however... What you need to remember is that if you have that many fond memories of her... Then why not focus on those memories? She may be gone from this plane of existence, but it only means that it's possible she's looking over you. She could have even been reborn as a spirit that can look over you in your daily life. You are the one who allows her to disappear entirely from your life, not death.” After this, the blond fell silent, rubbing the red head's back as he sobbed more quietly, trying to work the sobs out of him as he wondered if what he said held any meaning.

Soon, Tendou's sobs had died down to soft hiccups, breathing starting to return to normal as he leaned into Shirabu's touch. It was firm, but held a gentle touch that Tendou was thankful for. Sure, Ushijima was firm in his advice and kindness, but never anything like this. It was a sort of forceful warmth that Tendou was sure he didn't mind. He kind of liked it, as it dragged him from the clutches of something much darker that he was having a hard time fighting off. True, most of the time he made fun of Shirabu and Shirabu usually didn't get on well enough with him, but it seemed as though even their hot headed regular setter had a heart of gold when it counted most.

“...so, why did you approach me, Kenjirou-kun?” At the question, the blond's cheeks flushed a shade of pink, but he remained surprisingly stoic. His answer caught Tendou as much off guard as when he asked Kawanishi if Tendou and Ushijima were dating.

“I don't like seeing you in pain. It's not fitting.” After that, he shrugged, huffing a bit. “Besides, if you fall apart, who's going to tell Goshiki he has a 'cool haircut' as you put it? I'm sure as hell not telling him that crock of shit.” At this, Tendou can't help it as sincere laughter bubbled out of his throat and Shirabu felt his heart flutter. That was why he'd really helped the red head.

“You like me, don't you Kenjirou-kun~? You totally do, that's why your cheeks are red!” Grinning wide, Tendou can't help giggling some more, slowly returning to his usual self as Shirabu seemed to do the same, expression contorting to annoyance as he was about to smack Tendou across the head. “I think I'd like that, if you liked me. I kind of like you too, y'know?” This was the first time Shirabu was startled in the last two days, and he supposed it was overdue by now. “Hm? Kenjirou-kun? Are you alright? You're awfully red now...”

“Shut up, Tendou-san!” A prompt smack to the third year's head and Shirabu was getting up, stomping away to return to his dorm. Tendou had let out a yelp before loudly whining.

“But Kenjirou-kun, you can't just abandon me after our heartfelt confession!!” Shirabu rolled his eyes, opened the gym door that connected it to the school building, then slammed it shut behind himself. He leaned against the door with a loud groan, hiding his face in his hands out of sheer embarrassment. What the hell was Tendou, anyway? What kind of smooth talk was that? He knew he was in for quite the night when he looked over and saw Kawanishi stifling laughter behind his hand, crouched by the door next to the one Shirabu had slid back against.

For all that he cared for Tendou Satori, Shirabu was sure as anything that it would be a lengthy process to get accustomed to being around Tendou after the mutual confession. Even if he didn't want to admit his heart was racing and it felt like he was burning with all the joy in the world.


End file.
